Personalised Medicine

We are seeing a change in the healthcare model which sees patients being treated in their homes. From a supply chain perspective, it’s all about timing.

Richard Holmes, Managing Director Polar Speed Ltd, a UPS company

The shift to more patient-centric precision medicines is leading to dramatic changes in the way that healthcare will be delivered.

Direct to patient delivery is most often managed through one of two routes: high-tech and low-tech.

The high tech route sees the product being manufactured in line with the patient’s needs, through specialist asceptic compounding manufacturers who receive the prescription and then make the product to the individual’s requirements. Often tied in with medical staff, primarily nurses, this is the ultimate in personalised medicine and it is all about timing. On the low tech side, service agreements with manufacturers are obtained, allowing service providers to receive scrips directly and deliver products to patients.

A patient study looking at the services by homecare providers in the UK had UPS coming out top. One of the main reasons for this, highlighted by survey responses, was the company’s commitment to the patient-end side of their service, delivering at a time that is convenient to the patient and not the other way round.

Long-term delivery schedules are organized, which include alternative arrangements should patients be unable to receive the delivery. Regular follow-ups with the hospitals also ensure that any adverse reactions, identified by either the patient or UPS, are flagged up to both the physicians that have ownership of the care and the manufacturers as soon as possible.

This commitment to a patient centric service is clearly appreciated by end-users.

Take a closer look at the techniques and philosophy underpinning the company’s success.